In ‘Outliving Shakespeare,’ defying the final act becomes a beautiful work of art

Co-directed by Inna Sahakyan and Ruben Ghazaryan, ‘Outliving Shakespeare’ stood out as one of the most compelling films at this year’s Golden Apricot International Film Festival in Yerevan. After the international acclaim of her animated feature Aurora’s Sunrise, Sahakyan returns to themes of memory and survival, shifting from historical reconstruction to a warm, direct, present-day human scale. The doc takes us into a rundown Soviet-era care home in Yerevan’s Nork district, where theater director Garnik Seyranyan has gathered residents into an acting troupe called “Tarmani” to rehearse an original production, “Shakespeare’s Sins.” Over several months, the film follows their journey from initial casting and table reads through day-to-day rehearsals, steadily building toward a climactic premiere before an audience (unseen by us). Society has a habit of pushing the elderly to the margins, as if the desire to laugh, perform, or simply be heard expires with age. “Outliving Shakespeare” refuses to play along; Sahakyan and Ghazaryan never treat these people as charity cases or relics to pity. We meet characters with real pulse: Ligia, who still carries herself with the poise of a prima donna; the fiery, sharp-witted Anahit; Suren, acting on pure instinct; and Garnik, willing the whole production forward. They are bruised, funny, and unmistakably alive—using the stage to remind everyone, including themselves, that they are still very much in the room. The production itself serves as a sharp counterpoint to their daily lives: in “Shakespeare’s Sins,” iconic tragic figures put their creator (Shakespeare) on trial for scripting all their earthly misery. For the Nork residents, this functions as a poignant confrontation with fate itself. Halfway through the film, it is easy to forget you are watching a documentary at all. It moves with the rhythm and visual poise of a scripted drama, largely because cinematographer Bagrat Saroyan knows when not to crowd his subjects. Rather than shoving a camera into tight quarters, Saroyan hangs back, observing from doorways and window frames while letting natural light and shadow do the work. The details he picks up feel lived-in rather than staged: the wrinkles etched across an actor’s face, the faded paint of old walls, stray cats padding down the corridors, and the slightly surreal sight of a sleek, white robot humming through a decaying Soviet hallway. It has an understated, poetic feel that treats the setting with genuine respect, never turning the residents' world into a visual gimmick. One of the film's most resonant subtexts is its handling of the fall and ethnic cleansing of Artsakh. The directors avoid slogans and heavy-handed editorializing; instead, the reality of displacement seeps into the home naturally through flickering television sets and radio bulletins playing in the background. This collective grief is anchored in Gayane, a 50-year-old resident who returned to Artsakh to reclaim her life, only to live through the blockade, renewed war, and forced deportation—ultimately ending up back at the Nork facility as a refugee once more. Her hushed, contained grief anchors the Shakespearian drama firmly in lived Armenian experience. Though at its core, “Outliving Shakespeare” is an exploration of aging and theater, it is equally a meditation on lost time, isolation and dignity. It proves that even in dark circumstances, creative expression and human connection remain essential survival tools. Unquestionably one of the standout achievements in contemporary Armenian cinema, it is a film whose universal emotional weight deserves a wide reach across international festival screens and Armenian audiences alike. Outliving Shakespeare Armenia/Netherlands, 2025 94 mins Armenian, with English subtitles Producers: Vardan Hovhannisyan, Inna Sahakyan, Mariam Davtyan, Joram Willink, Esther van Driesum, Rosalien Hollestelle Directors: Inna Sahakyan, Ruben Ghazaryan Script: Inna Sahakyan, Lilit Movsisyan Director of Photography: Bagrat Saroyan Sound: Lennert Hunfeld Editing: Artur Sahakyan Production: Bars Media, Bind

In ‘Outliving Shakespeare,’ defying the final act becomes a beautiful work of art

An elderly Yerevan acting troupe confronts aging, displacement and the refusal to fade into the background.

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Rupen Janbazian

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Rupen Janbazian

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